Winning Relay Highlights Day 1 of Conference Meet

Liberty's Brye Ravettine and Cori Gary took second and third, respectively, in the 50 free, and both swam on Liberty's conference-record-setting 200 free relay on Thursday.

The Liberty swimming team, behind a conference-record-setting relay and three individual medalist performances, is in second place after day one at the 2013 CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships, Thursday in Athens, Ga.

The Lady Flames scored 182.5 points on the day, trailing only Florida Gulf Coast, which scored 245 points. North Florida is in third place with 143 points, followed by Georgia Southern, at 141. Gardner-Webb is fifth, scoring 108 points on Thursday.

Overall, Liberty posted one conference record and two Lady Flames recorded NCAA B cuts. The team also broke three program records and set numerous personal bests.

Liberty's A 200 free relay claimed victory for the second year in a row at the championship event. The Lady Flames won in a conference-record time of 1:30.01, earning an NCAA Division I B cut in the process. Brye Ravettine led off, followed by Cori Gary, Chloe Thomas and Meghan Babcock.

Emily Duff swam a season-best time of 4:59.16 to place fourth during the finals of the 500 free. Hannah Wakeley placed 14th overall, taking sixth in the B final with a time of 5:05.12.

Emilie Kaufman earned her first CCSA medal, swimming a program-record 2:03.98 to take third in the 200 IM. Laura Day placed 11th with a 2:07.35 in the finals.

Liberty picked up 68.5 points in the 50 free, highlighted by a 2-3-4 finish. Defending champion Brye Ravettine swam 22.88 in the final, good for second place. Cori Gary also added a B cut time of 22.96, finishing third, while Meghan Babcock swam a lifetime-best 23.02 to tie for fourth.

Jess Reinhardt won the B final in the 50 free, placing ninth overall in a lifetime-best 23.49. Chloe Thomas took 10th, in 23.54, while Ranndi Grubbs went 23.79 for 13th and Rachel Nelson finished 16th in 24.09.

Liberty qualified 11 swimmers for the evening finals, including five in A finals. The Lady Flames placed seven in the finals of the 50 free alone, with three in the A final and four in the B final.

Ravettine recorded an NCAA B cut time of 22.81 to qualify in second during the 50 free. Gary tied for fourth, at 23.06, while Babcock's 23.11 seeded her seventh. Thomas (23.49 – 10th), Reinhardt (23.72 – 11th), Grubbs (23.75 – 13th) and Nelson (23.80) all swam lifetime bests in making the B final.

Nelson had to win a swim-off for 16th place, beating Christina Moran of Georgia Southern to earn the last spot in the finals.

Emilie Kaufman (2:04.89) placed fourth in 200 IM qualifying, gaining an A finals swim at night. Laura Day swam a lifetime-best 2:06.64 to finish ninth, with the top seed in the B final.

Duff opened the morning by swimming the sixth fastest prelim time in the 500 free, 5:00.98. Wakeley made the B final in a personal-best 5:03.51, good for 12th.